Expert Tutors
Errors of Omission
The errors of omission can be divided into two parts. These errors are- errors of partial omission and errors of complete omission.
These are as follows-
- Errors of partial omission
Here, the transaction is recorded at an account’s debit side with the omission of a corresponding credit from being recorded. For instance- goods which were purchased from X, were only recorded in X’s purchase account and omitted from being recorded in his personal account. Such errors are known as partial omission.
Partial errors have its effect only on one account. Thus, they should be rectified by opening a suspense account. These partial errors need to be corrected without even opening such an account.
- Errors of complete omission
In such cases, an entire transaction is missed from being recorded in the books of accounts. The concerned accountant skips to record such transactions both in his journal paper as well as subsidiary books. These errors which were completely omitted can be fixed by passing a correct entry. This is based on the assumption- “it’s never too late to mend your mistake.”
Errors of Commission
- Mistaken totaling of subsidiary books
It is either the credit balance or debit balance which are shown in subsidiary books. Accountants often make a mistake in totaling in their subsidiary books. While sometimes it’s shortly totaled by under casting, there are times when it gets over casted.
No matter whether it is overcasting or under casting, it affects either the credit or debit side of a trial balance. In such cases, a rectification can be made by opening a suspense account or even by not opening one. These errors get discovered by trial balance as it does not tally at the end.
- Posting at the wrong side of ledger account
There are times when an accountant wrongly posts from his journal proper and subsidiary books at the wrong side. For example, a transaction which was correctly recorded on the debit side gets wrongly posted on the credit side. Such mistakes cause differences between the total of debit and credit in the trial balance. Thus, these errors are easily detected by the trial balance.
- Wrong amounts posted in the ledger accounts
Ledger accounts are prepared with the help of subsidiary books and journal proper. Thus, it is a common mistake to carry forward a wrong amount to ledger accounts. For example, a sale which was correctly posted in the sales book gets wrongly debited to an account.
- Improper balancing of ledger accounts
If the ledger accounts fail to balance, there will be a difference in the credit and debit total of the trial balance. For rectifying it, the particular account needs to be debited if there is a shortage in the debit balance.In the case of credit balance, it needs to be credited.
- Incorrect amount being recorded in the subsidiary books
There are times when financial transactions get recorded with an incorrect amount in the subsidiary books. Rectification of such errors requires passing a correct entry with the shortage of amount being passed once again in the correct way.
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